Why is it so hard to get discharged from hospital?

Brilliant news! Glad you’re home… there is nothing like it 😊

I have to say, my experience was very positive. I was told I was being discharged yesterday afternoon, meds came to the ward and DH picked me up an hour later. All very slick!

I have been down the discharge lounge route too and it too was efficient.

Marydoll I hope it won’t be too long before you’re able to go home too. I hope the Drs are able to make you more comfortable and sort out your meds etc. Take care x

Cabbie I’m so glad your DH is now home and I hope that you have support in place (if needed). Take it easy and be kind to yourself. It’s hard work being a carer x

Best wishes, Marydoll, I hope you'll soon be home again

I had a telephone appointment this morning with a Consultant: "Do Not Attend the Hospital, this is a Telephone Appointment"
Now I have to trek 20 miles into same hospital, same department, to pick up my medication. I hope it's there.
You couldn't make it up, as they say.

i have had the same problem a few times over the last few years, i know they are busy and i am not being unkind but i give them till 12 lunchtime and then i say i am leaving, i ask if the doctor has to see me before i leave and this is always no, i ask if my meds have changed and if so write it down and my gp can sort it and can they please send any paperwork to me or my doctor, i explained that i am not going to sit for hours in a waiting room when i all i wanted to do was lie down as i was wearing two drainage bags after have all my groin lymph nodes removed. doctors and nurses are busy enough and sticking some paperwork in an envelope is much easier than having me sitting there.

I'm currently in hospital in Glasgow and this popped up on my tablet.

SueDonim

If it’s like where my dd works, the various IT systems don’t talk to each other and these things have to be done manually.

This! 👆🏻

Communications seem to be absolutely dire in many hospitals.

Talking of medication, it took almost an hour together to make up his dosette box this morning. Lots of new tablets, and some of his old ones, but some different doses. He has difficulty swallowing so had asked for as many as possible in liquid form: there were none. Fortunately I had already bought a tablet crusher.
I also got through to the GP surgery at first attempt! I was assured that they will put the new meds order through to the pharmacy, so I am optimistic that it will get sorted before DH runs out. I also had no argument about getting a face to face GPappointment for next week, though I need to ring tomorrow for that.

Callistemon21

^Pharmacies in hospitals now are often privatised businesses.
The service they provide in what is basically a monopoly is usually dreadful.^

I'm not sure that is the case everywhere because hospital pharmacists here have been undertaking telephone appointments here on behalf of the hospital consultants, although this is not always made clear to the patient. Apparently, they are considered to be part of the team and I was told would know more about the drugs than the doctors.

I didn't mean to question their expertise but their customer service provisions. If I went into a pharmacy on the high street that always had queues and kept me waiting over an hour I'd simply go to a different one. In a hospital you can't.

It was the bane of our lives when DH was in and out of hospital last year. I had to have our son in law on standby for hours so that we could drop everything and go and pick him up, and even then, he wasn’t always ready to go. I’m glad you’re both at home now, Cabbie.

I am well aware of how the system works so the last time I had major surgery I started asking (nagging!) the previous day if my drugs were ordered and if I had my discharge forms ready. Even so, the person picking me up had to wait. I was not amused because it was not necessary.

Many years ago after breaking my ankle and having surgery, I refused to be moved to the discharge lounge. I was non weight bearing with crutches and could only walk a couple of yards. I stayed on my bed, I did not care!

When my late DH was ill, I waited around all day several times for discharge to be completed. On one occasion we thought we could avoid the delay by asking for the medication to be collected from our local pharmacy when we got home instead of the hospital pharmacy, which was agreed. The problem was that we still had to wait for other things and got home in the evening after the pharmacy shut on a Friday so had to wait until Monday for medication.

One of the biggest problems in the health service is communication: within hospitals and without.

It's not the staff, it's the system, poor use of staff and resources. The problem is trying to instigate change. Glad you are home safe and sound.

This is not a new issue. I was a hospital social worker from 1989-1995 facilitating the discharge by arranging ongoing support at home for people who had a range of chronic illness including stroke, AIDS or rheumatoid arthritis. One of the great mysteries was the long wait for medication before discharge could take place. I would often pop onto the ward if I could to say cheerio, reassure regarding follow up arrangements and where necessary, arrange to collect the meds en route. I never thought to ask why this was such a recurrent cause of delay for patients as it was one of the many tasks I quietly carried out to 'oil the wheels' where people were coping with life changing challenges. Sadly, like so many health and care professionals nowadays, social workers are overwhelmed with increasingly complex needs to be met in the community with rapidly dwindling resources to draw on and many are leaving the profession after decades of derision by the media.

Glad your home Cabbie. You’ll both be exhausted today. Hope your DH continues to improve.

Cabbie glad you are both home safely. You both need a good rest. 💐

Wonderful news!

Sorry Cabbie

I'm glad you're both home safely 🙂

^Pharmacies in hospitals now are often privatised businesses.
The service they provide in what is basically a monopoly is usually dreadful.^

I'm not sure that is the case everywhere because hospital pharmacists here have been undertaking telephone appointments here on behalf of the hospital consultants, although this is not always made clear to the patient. Apparently, they are considered to be part of the team and I was told would know more about the drugs than the doctors.

Phew - I am glad you are both safely home now.

We finally got home just before 6 pm.
His meds were all sorted yesterday in theory. A last minute adjustment, hence the delay. But it was a tablet which he has plenty of at home!
I was given poor directions to the so- called Discharge Lounge. I was told it was just inside a certain entrance which I found, but no DL or signs. Eventually I found a person who helpfully told me I needed to go upstairs. When I got out of the lift, still no signs. Empty corridors. A nurse emerged and was so helpful, took me to where I needed to go, which was in fact a Ward with a name! On the ward they could not have been more helpful. A porter and a nurse accompanied DH and me to the car. 50 minute drive home. It has been a busy evening. Thank you for all your good wishes.

Well doctors are overloaded with work. Pharmacies in hospitals now are often privatised businesses. The service they provide in what is basically a monopoly is usually dreadful. My mum was prescribed a drug that had to be supplied by a hospital. We often had over an hour to wait for it to be dispensed.
I do think the checks are important. My mum was waiting o be discharged after a minor op when she was suddenly informed she was being transferred instead. They'd discovered she'd had a minor heart attack and she needed more tests.

Hope you’re home safe and sound, Cabbie.
Discharge is always such a nightmare and so messy. My mum was on a ward once where they had a discharge nurse. I can’t say it helped things move any smoother as she basically had too many patients to deal with and was still at the mercy of doctor availability and pharmacies.